With Jonny and His Retinue

Jonny and Jenny flew to SLC on Saturday, March 22, 2014.  Jenny came to tend Camille's youngest children, Ezra and Mia, while the older Eberts toured China and Japan.  Jonny visited for just a week, before returning to North Carolina.  While Jenny attended a friend's baby shower and David worked on house repairs on this Saturday afternoon, Jonny, Sam, and I went rambling.  We started at the Farmer's Market in the old Rio Grand train station.  There were displays of paintings by prominent Utah artists, including Jonny's favorite, Brian Kershisnik.   

We ran into our neighbor, Wyatt Petty, pressing some of the best cider we'd ever tasted. 

Next stop was the Red Iguana, one of Jonny's favorite SLC restaurants.   

Sam got strained beans, while Jonny and I tried the Red Iguana's distinctive moles.

We took Sam on his first trip to the zoo.  Sam is a curious guy, and he was interested in the elephants and the giraffes, but he was just as interested in a little girl's red coat.  The whole world is new and different to Sam, and he doesn't know what's new and different (like zoo animals) to people who have lived in the world for a long time! 

Back home in our basement family room, Jonny pulled out the reading cards that they use with Sam.  "I just love this little guy," Jonny said.  "Don't you think he's good-looking?  He's so attentive and smart."  I agreed.

We met Jenny and Camille for a Chinese supper at the Hong Kong Café.  Sam adores his mother and Jenny adores Sam.

Dave doesn't like me taking photographs of him eating, so he mugged some shots, showing what really disreputable eating looks like!

We finished the evening at Camille's house, where Sophia showed us the Japanese crafts they'd been doing, to learn about Japan before they traveled there.

Steve is the miracle worker in the kitchen, cleaning the dishes before the meal (or dessert) is barely eaten.

Our house is torn up with construction, with the kitchen under a thick film of sawdust.  Jonny's family and Mike joined us for Sunday dinner at O'Falafel, a restaurant in Sugar House run by Palestinian immigrants.

We took a Sunday afternoon walk around Liberty Park, enjoying the views of mountains, lake, and seagulls.  I thought of Liberty Park as a skuzzy place, when I was growing up, but I became more impressed with it after seeing how Central Park in New York provides respite and a gathering place for citizens rich and poor.

Sam's face finally told us, "Enough!  Time to go home for a nap!"

Dining at the Michael Spendlove Residence

Michael is becoming a good cook.  He orders Blue Apron meals several times per month, which are chilled and packaged ingredients for three meals, together with recipes for stylish, predominantly ethnic dishes.  The packages include everything needed for the recipes, other than salt and olive oil.  Michael invited Camille's family, Dad, and me, for his first large dinner party, a Sunday supper on March 9, 2014.  

The entrée was Moroccan chicken, spiced with cumin, coriander, and 20 cloves of garlic.  The chicken was served on a bed of coucous mixed with onions, carrots, and parsley.  The accompaniments were a salad of tomatoes and sliced red onions flavored with cumin, and for dessert, cinnamon-seasoned oranges over ice cream.

Moroccan chicken is not Ezra's and Mia's "thing," but they liked the French bread and perfectly plain couscous.

Michael sets a beautiful table.

Moab with Dave and the Women

 The Durham Jones & Pinegar Women's Law Group held its annual retreat in Moab over the March 7-8 weekend.  Six of the women lawyers came to the retreat, as well as one of the summer clerks, Alexis Jones, pictured above.  The centerpiece of the weekend was running/walking the Moab Half Marathon.  Dave was appalled to spend $75 to walk the 5-mile alternate race, but he was a good sport about accompanying me. 

We rode the bus to the entrance of Negro Bill Canyon, where our race began.  There were beautiful views of dawn over the Colorado River as we rode along.

Some Moabites were so embarrassed at the use of the word "Negro" in the name of their canyon that they taped it out.

It was a beautiful walk, through the red rock canyon all the way to Moab.  We passed drummers on the way, entertaining the runners.  As we neared the finish line, among the stragglers, it was almost more than Dave could do, not to dash in front of the last few chubby women jogging slowly ahead of us.  As we plodded across the finish line, the announcer said excitedly, "We have David and Gretta Spendlove, 67 and 64, running in together."

We spent the afternoon with Alexis Jones and her husband, Trevor, driving through the red rock country and taking little hikes along the way.  We stopped at Dead Horse Point. 

We also hiked to Mesa Arch in Canyonlands.

 

The group ate one dinner at Miguel's Baja Grill, with great Mexican food, and another dinner at the Red Cliffs Lodge, 14 miles up the Colorado River.  The sunset over the Colorado was spectacular.

During our free time, we explored some of the galleries of Western photographs and Native American jewelry. As a combined birthday and Mother's Day gift, Dave bought me a handmade silver mosaic bear pendant, inlaid with carnelian, lapis, and smoky oyster.

Aunt Marge and Africa

Funerals are happy times for cousins who rarely get together.  Dave's Aunt Marge Breinholt died, and we gathered for her funeral on Saturday, March 8, 2014.   Danny Breinholt, Aunt Marge's son, is one of Dave's favorite cousins. He had been fighting cancer for years, and we were glad to see him one more time before he died, later in the spring.  On the back row, behind Danny, left to right, are Dave's cousins Janet (Aunt Marge's daughter), Bonnie and Susan (Aunt Nelda's daughters), Carol Ann (Aunt Marge's daughter), Dave, Larry (Uncle Vaughn's son) and Alan Dale.

We also enjoyed hearing fun stories about Aunt Marge, a lady who was as feisty and opinionated as her little brother, Cliff Spendlove.  It was tough for her kids to take driving privileges away from her, even after she repeatedly backed into neighbors' cars in the ward parking lot, and then just drove off!

Michael came home, this week, from his tour of Togo and Benin.  The tour was named "The Voodoo Trail."  As always, Michael brought back great pictures, including shots of voodoo ceremonies.

We watched "Blue Jasmine" with Michael, for which the female star, Cate Blanchett, was nominated for the Academy Award best actress award.  Michael says he has a friend who looks just like Cate Blanchett.

Another treat over the March 7-9 weekend was Sunday dinner at Camille's house.  Camille fixed the almond-coated chicken, mashed sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts, and homemade rolls with honey butter.  My contribution was homemade mango ice cream and mint chocolate brownies.  Dinner with Camille always feels so civilized and warm and secure.